


Mourning

by cruisedirector



Category: The Lord of the Rings (Movies), The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Angst, Canonical Character Death, Community: contrelamontre, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2003-04-08
Updated: 2003-04-08
Packaged: 2017-10-03 15:18:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 602
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19519
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cruisedirector/pseuds/cruisedirector
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Before and during the battle, a man fights the darkness of Helm's Deep.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mourning

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the contrelamontre late-late-night/early morning challenge.

Night was the only time when Aragorn could weep. As they traveled from the borders of Fangorn to Edoras, no longer driven by sharp-edged terror concerning the fate of the hobbits, they could afford to stop to rest. Aragorn and Gimli had both been near collapse after three days of tireless pursuit, and even Gandalf seemed to need to recover his strength after the great changes that had befallen him.

In the early hours of the morning, Legolas stood watch far enough away not to overhear even with his Elvish ears. The dwarf snored loudly, whereas the wizard lay silently with his eyes closed. Perhaps he was not asleep at all, though he never stirred while the stars continued to wheel about the sky.

Aragorn lay in the tall grass, his face pressed to the undersides of the vambraces that he had unstrapped from his forearms so that he could hold them. He cried silently, refusing to let his breathing grow ragged, biting his lip when necessary to keep the sobs in. He did not say Boromir's name aloud even in a whisper, for he did not want to hear the sound vanish in the air the way Boromir's breathing had stopped, leaving behind terrible quiet.

In the bleak darkness before dawn, Aragorn lay alone with his agony. He wondered sometimes about the joy he might have felt at Gandalf's return and the rescue of Merry and Pippin if only the other man had been alive to share it. Eventually, sometimes, he fell into fathomless dreams, but no matter how terrifying, he always woke at first light.

Boromir would never wake to see another sunrise.

* * * *

The lives of men are brief and bleak. Legolas does not understand, not even after believing Aragorn dead in the battle with the warg riders. "They are frightened," the elf says, gazing at the farmers and stable hands recruited to battle Saruman's army at Helm's Deep. "They cannot win this fight. They are all going to die!"

"Then I shall die as one of them!" Aragorn cries, his voice too loud among the terrified old men and young boys. If he were mortally wounded in the battle, he thinks, he might feel only relief: the fates of Rohan and Gondor would no longer rest in his hands, and perhaps he would see Boromir again soon.

In Edoras he sometimes encountered Eowyn creeping through dark hallways in the early hours, her eyes haunted. He knows that she lost her beloved cousin recently, the young prince whom Theoden also mourns. Eowyn is so young, yet she has already known so much death in her family and in her kingdom. The evils unleashed by Sauron and Saruman will bring yet more suffering into the world of men.

The battle rages through the night. The forces of Rohan cannot prevail much longer, yet Aragorn must keep them strong. He made a promise to Gandalf that the defenses would hold, and if he must keep his word with no more strength than his own sword and his will, then that is what he will do.

Black thunderclouds and rain obscure the stars for most of the night, yet now and then a few shine through. Looking up, Aragorn thinks of Boromir dying in the shadow of Amon Hen, disappearing over the Falls of Rauros. Exhaustion overtakes him briefly, body and spirit, and he sags against the stones circling the great fortress. Yet he cannot weep now. He cannot rest. Too many other men may die.

They must get through this darkness, all of them; somehow, they must hold on until the dawn.


End file.
